1. Field
Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to subscription management in a dual SIM single standby device.
2. Background
Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide various communication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcasts, and so on. Such networks, which are usually multiple access networks, support communications for multiple users by sharing the available network resources. One example of such a network is the UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN). The UTRAN is the radio access network (RAN) defined as a part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), a third generation (3G) mobile phone technology supported by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The UMTS, which is the successor to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) technologies, currently supports various air interface standards, such as Wideband-Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA), Time Division-Code Division Multiple Access (TD-CDMA), and Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA). The UMTS also supports enhanced 3G data communications protocols, such as High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), which provides higher data transfer speeds and capacity to associated UMTS networks. Other example networks include GPRS/EDGE, CDMA/DO, and/or EUTRAN (4G LTE).
Some wireless devices are configured to facilitate communication via two separate subscriptions. For instance, dual subscriber identity module (SIM) single standby devices may include two SIM cards—one card for a first subscription and a second card for a second subscription. In dual SIM single standby devices, typically one of the two subscriptions are selected as a designated voice and/or data subscription, where the chosen subscription will serve as the provider of data services to the wireless device.
The SIM card associated with the designated voice and/or data subscription selected by the user will be active while the other SIM card is inactive. Upon detecting the presence of a second SIM card (e.g., a user inserts a second SIM card into the device), a user is typically presented with menu selections to switch to the newly inserted SIM card. Until the user selects to switch to the newly inserted SIM card, the device will not use the voice and/or data subscription associated with the newly inserted SIM as the provider of data services. Thus, switching between subscriptions can be a cumbersome process requiring user intervention.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a method and apparatus that automatically switches from the voice and/or data subscription associated with the active SIM card to the voice and/or data subscription associated with the newly inserted SIM card upon detecting the presence of the newly inserted SIM card.